Software Center and Gnome-software differences?

brent

or more directly, why is its search radically different than Software Center's? Is it just app-only with gnome? but note Plank of all things?

using both to look for stuff tonight.

alfisya

brent Hmmm, plank not showing up in GS is weird. It has valid appstream metainfo and it identify itself as desktop app. I wonder if this is any different in Discover. I will look into it.

The other two packages are expected. I did talk a bit about this in last devlog and I wrote this appstream metainfo docs if you want to read about it.

Harvey

Because they are fundamentally different, they are both software centers that is about all they have in common.

Newer software centers rely on xml data that must be added to each and every package to even appear in the software center... I hate it. But that how all the big software centers function and we do not have the resources or interest in rewriting, improving and maintaining solus-sc.

We talk about a task to add more to the newer software centers every week with this task in the Solus Cleanup Crew:

Adding appstream metainfo - 194 packages (down 1) need appstream metainfo added

An that is focusing on GUI applications not CLI ones or libraries etc, there are many many more to add.

brent

alfisya thanks for the reading links, I overlooked this discussion
Harvey I thought thye might be built for different things i.e., Gnome geared at a traditional/popular GUI app. thanks for the detailed explanation.

BuzzPCSOS it is still a more complicated implementation of a host of CLI instructions. When these programs fail it is the CLI that mostly gets used to fix them.

I agree. Great comment.

alfisya Serpent is already providing Gnome Software and Cosmic Store. It is not yet integregated with moss but already can be used as flatpak front-end. What needs to be done is hooking up moss to packagekit which is what those software store use under the hood.

that basically what I think gnome is: a flatpak front end. Will we ever have anything as comprehensive as our current SC again?

Staudey

alfisya Hmmm, plank not showing up in GS is weird. It has valid appstream metainfo and it identify itself as desktop app. I wonder if this is any different in Discover. I will look into it.

FWIW appstreamcli validate complains about the following:
https://freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs/chap-Validation.html#asv-cid-desktopapp-is-not-rdns

It's only a warning, not an error, but I wonder if GNOME Software is perhaps more strict?

BuzzPCSOS

I have had intermittent issues with various software centres on various distros, not all Solus. However well a program has been written it is still a more complicated implementation of a host of CLI instructions. When these programs fail it is the CLI that mostly gets used to fix them.
There are a number of low resource distros that use software managers that are mostly a very fancy script. They are robust, easy to update and fast. They only seem to have the downside of not being so pretty.
Using this strategy would also allow an easier future transition away from .eopkg and towards .stone at which point we will probably be using another software centre anyway.
Just my thoughts. Many of my updates, especially the big ones get done at command line level. Mostly because they seem to get everything done faster.

alfisya

BuzzPCSOS Using this strategy would also allow an easier future transition away from .eopkg and towards .stone at which point we will probably be using another software centre anyway.

Not really. As of now, Serpent is already providing Gnome Software and Cosmic Store. It is not yet integregated with moss but already can be used as flatpak front-end. What needs to be done is hooking up moss to packagekit which is what those software store use under the hood. I don't think writing another GUI, no matter how simple it looks, is desirable. It adds maintainence burden for ourselves, when there is cross-distro effort like packagekit. Of course the situation can change later but there is no plan for such thing .

PS: This is off-topic of the original thread. Try keep it on topic below. Cheers!